Capricorn

Etymology

It is inherited from Middle English Capricorne,^[2][3] borrowed from Old French capricorne and directly borrowed from Latin capricornus (“goat-horned”),^[4][3][5] formed from caper (“goat”) and cornū (“horn”),^[4][3][6][7] the last from Proto-Indo-European *ker- (“horn; head”).^[7] The Latin translates Ancient Greek αἰγόκερως (aigókerōs, “goat-horned”), the Greek name of the constellation.^{[4][8][5][3][2]} Etymonline says the Greek distinguished the "horned goat" from "the kids" in Auriga, and that the Latin form was naturally linked with Amalthea, the goat who nursed the infant Zeus.^[7]

Earliest recorded meaning

The zodiacal sign: in Old English according to the Shorter Oxford and in late Old English according to Etymonline,^[6][7] and before 1387 in Barnhart, in Trevisa's translation of Higden's Polychronicon.^[3] The OED, in an entry not fully revised, quotes Chaucer's Treatise on the Astrolabe of 1391 for the sign and Hawes's Pastime of Pleasure of 1509 for the constellation.^[4] Allen's Star Names and Their Meanings, as cited by Etymonline, reports that the Anglo-Saxons knew it as bucca and buccan horn.^[7]

Semantic evolution

The sign begins at the most southerly point of the ecliptic, the winter solstice,^[4] which gave the tropic of Capricorn.^[6] For a while the word also meant a horned animal, perhaps an ibex or chamois, as used by Evelyn before 1684.^[4][6] From 1700 it named beetles of the genus Cerambyx,^[4] and in 1612 Chapman used it humorously, perhaps for capriccio with a play on horns; a short-lived verb, to fit with horns, appears in 1665.^[4] The use for a person born under the sign dates from 1894.^[4][7]

Timeline

• 1391 – the tenth sign of the zodiac, in Chaucer.^[4]
• 1509 – the constellation, in Hawes.^[4]
• 1612 – humorously, with a play on horns, in Chapman.^[4]
• 1665 – verb, to fit with horns (obsolete).^[4]
• before 1684 – a horned animal such as an ibex (obsolete).^[4][6]
• 1700 – beetles of the genus Cerambyx.^[4]
• 1894 – a person born under the sign.^[4][7]

Meanings

Noun

1. In astrology, the tenth sign of the zodiac, the Goat, associated with the period from about 22 December to 19 January.^[6][9][2]
2. A person born under this sign.^[9][4][6]
3. A southern constellation between Sagittarius and Aquarius, pictured as a goat.^[2][9][6]
4. A beetle of the genus Cerambyx.^[4]
5. An animal with goat's horns, perhaps an ibex or chamois (obsolete, before 1684).^[4][6]

Word family

• Tropic of Capricorn

Related words

• caper
• caprine
• cab
• cabriolet
• horn
• cornucopia
• goat

References

1. ^ a b Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
3. ^ a b c d e Barnhart, Robert K. (1988), The Barnhart Dictionary of Etymology
4. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s Oxford English Dictionary Online (accessed March 2026), Oxford: Oxford University Press
5. ^ a b Hoad, T. F., ed. (1986), The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology, Oxford: Clarendon Press
6. ^ a b c d e f g h i Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles (2002), 5th ed., ed. William R. Trumble and Angus Stevenson, Oxford: Oxford University Press
7. ^ a b c d e f g Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
8. ^ Klein, Ernest. A Comprehensive Etymological Dictionary of the English Language. 2 vols. Amsterdam: Elsevier, 1966–1967.
9. ^ a b c Collins English Dictionary (2023), Glasgow: HarperCollins